Day: July 23, 2022

This week we watched Possessor (2022) and a Futurama episode titled “I Second that Emotion,” which expressed the meaning of Theory of the Mind.

Possessor (2020)

Tasya Vos is an assassin that is able to commit murders by taking control over other people’s bodies using brain-implant technology. In order to get back to her own body, she forces the host to commit suicide. The film starts off with Vos having finished one of her jobs, but fails to force her host to commit suicide. Her inability to go through it suggests there are some issues she has to work through, and it is hinted in the beginning as to what those issues are. After returning to her body, she has to go through a debriefing session to remember and connect with her real self. She feels guilt over a pinned butterfly she killed as a child. This guilt does not bode well for her future since her handler, Girder, wants to pass her title down to her. Vos is also seen practicing her “role” as an ex-wife and mother to Michael and Ira. She practices the phrasing and tone in which she’ll talk, similar to how she practices the way the hosts she invades act as well. This demonstrates that the person she is seen as through her ex-husband and son are not truly her. Even in the end she confesses to Colin that: “I loved him too, but I’m not sure if it was me.”

Similar to Theory of the Mind, she is able to understand that other people’s thoughts and perspectives are different from her own, but she still tries to connect with them in order to get the job done. She does this when killing the lawyer when she decides to stab him repeatedly instead of shooting him, something that her host would’ve done. This could either be because it would make it easier for her to commit the act, or easier to overpower her host. When killing John Parse as Colin, she again does not shoot him, but hits him with a weapon and disfigures his face. She is connecting with her host.

 

The ending where she kills her son was interesting because there is so much rage when shooting him. As if it was that moment when she felt she was free, free of acting like she had any emotions to show to Michael and Ira. In being free of them, she was free of that guilt she felt for pinning the butterfly as a child.

Futurama

In the episode of “Futurama: I Second that Emotion,” it was less challenging to follow along. Bender flushes Nibbler (Leela’s pet) down the toilet, and feels absolutely no emotions over it afterwards, not even when witnessing Leela breakdown over Nibbler. In order to teach Bender a lesson, the Professor implants an empathy chip that will allow Bender to feel every emotion Leela is going through. Bender is unwilling to even try to understand what Leela went through, which makes it easier for him to not care. He could try to show certain acts that would be perceived as acts of kindness, but he would still not feel them. Similar to Vos practicing phrases and tones of voice in order to act as if she felt those emotions. After taking the empathy chip off, Bender is back to his old self, having no emotions.

 

What Makes Us Human?

Futurama- The Day the Earth Stood Stoopid

http://https://futurama.fandom.com/wiki/The_Day_the_Earth_Stood_Stupid

In Futurama’s episode ‘ The Day the Earth Stood Stoopid’, the episode employs the use of the image of a brain in a vat (outside the vat, in this case). The battle between the flying brains and the humans is representing the argument of cognition limited to the brain and embodied cognition. Though the brains are seen as intelligent and humans stupid, the brains’ reliance on the brain for thought processes is actually to their detriment. Why? Because they are unable to process emotions properly since they are just a brain and not a mind. This suggests that there is value in human emotions and that the collaboration between our brain and our body is what makes us human. This made me think of how we treat people in a coma. When there is a lack of brain activity, a person is called brain-dead. But, when the human form decides to cease all activity, they are just dead, which highlights the importance of viewing the brain and body as one. Also, I just wanted to highlight Leela’s comment about the brains saying: “Oh my God; they’re like flying televisions!” (because they make people dumb). I thought it was interesting that she thinks of technology as a knowledge-zapper instead of a new medium through which we can gain knowledge compared to reading, writing, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

Star Trek: Return to Tomorrow

Star Trek uses Sargon and Sargon’s planet as a symbol for brain cognition. Sargon says, “I am as dead as my planet”‘. What’s interesting is that Sargon is directing the ship through voice commands alone. It is assumed that Sargon is a person or maybe an alien until it is revealed that they are a brain in a vat (or a brain in an orb, in this case). Essentially, they act like Siri, giving commands and mimicking human-like ways of thinking. However, it’s noted that, though Sargon doesn’t consider himself dead, he doesn’t consider himself alive either. That is until he possesses a crew member’s body and states how wonderful it is, “to be again”. “To be” as in regaining the senses which allowed him to feel a pulse, breathe, and see. I would argue that vision was probably the most important sense that they regained because before they could perceive their surroundings. This circles back to the belief that human cognition is formed by our experiences. 

 

Altered Carbon: Out of the Past

Unlike both Star Trek and Futurama, Altered Carbon doesn’t have images or representations of a brain outside the body. It doesn’t question what it means to be a human. Rather, it questions what makes you, you. The writers focus on the human form, referring to bodies as ‘sleeves’, implying that bodies are vessels for the brain and that it’s solely responsible for our personality. Take the case of Kovacs, for example, he still seems to be himself even though he went from being a slender Asian man to a buff white guy. It’s suggested that the human brain acts like a computer: our thoughts are software that can be downloaded and run by anybody. In other words, the brain can’t exist outside of a body, but it can function outside of our original body.

Futurama- I Second That Emotion

The first media I watched this week was Futurama whose message was straightforward. This episode seems to be arguing that empathy isn’t an inherent trait and that it can be developed in one who does not have it. In the example of Bender who is a robot, he is able to feel empathy through the implantation of an empathy chip by the Professor. The first thing that I noticed is that he felt not only her sadness, but also her happiness and anger, which I thought was odd, but only because empathy is usually associated with kindness. Continuing, this is reminiscent of the topic of mirror neurons because Bender is able to save Leela’s pet since he seemingly feels her pain. But, it also showcases the weakness of the mirror neuron claim because, after the chip is removed, Bender doesn’t feel empathy anymore despite witnessing and displaying Leela’s love for Nibbler. This might be because he didn’t employ emotional empathy. He acted out of selfishness (how he would feel in her place) instead of thinking about how Leela herself felt. This leans more towards supporting embodied theory since he does not need to theorize Leela’s emotions. His body recognizes her body language and responds to it.

Possessor

When I glanced at the cover for Possessor, I thought it would be like a regular horror movie. You know, maybe there’s a villain, a sidekick, and some violence, However, the opening scene was different than what I expected. I don’t like needles or blood on television, so it was a little uncomfortable to watch. Also, it was a little difficult to understand the plot, so I did have to replay some scenes. Something that I focused on was the sex scenes. The act of sex is usually heightened by the feelings each person has for one another. Vos eventually empathizes with the host to where sex feels like more than an act in every relationship except her own. It paints empathy in a negative light, because, in order to empathize with someone, Vos has to lose part of herself in the process. It makes me wonder if empathy is simply understanding how someone feels or trading a portion of your consciousness for theirs. Is our consciousness just a collection of our experiences with others? In addition, the primary use of empathy in the movie is to allow her to kill people, which also isn’t exactly positive.

I also wanted to zone in on her embodied cognition and how difficult it is to separate the actions performed by the host’s body from her own consciousness. Due to the fact that she couldn’t commit suicide, it seems that the host’s body and her mind are now one. Or, if not, there’s a struggle between the mind and body for control. Vos’s experience isn’t too different from what most people experience as she uses grounding techniques such as repeating the phrase, “I’m absolutely starving”. People normally use this when they’ve lost their sense of self.